c 


eOTti Congress, | HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. J Report 
M SesK/on. f ■) No. 1867 . 


SCHOOLS OR DEPART.MENTS OF INSTRUCTION IN MINES 

AND iMINlNG. 


January 16, 1909,—Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state 
of the Union and ordered to be printed. 


U ^ 

Mr. Foster, of Illinois, from the Committee on Mines and Mining*, 

submitted the following 

REPORT. 

[To accompany S. 3764.] 


The Committee on Mines and Mining, to which was referred the bill 
(S. 3764} to apply a portion of the proceeds of the sale of public lands 
to the endowment of schools or departments of mines and mining, and 
to regulate the expenditure thereof, respectfully reports: 

Your committee recommend that all after the enacting clause of 
Senate bill 3764, which already has passed the Senate, be stricken out 
and the following substituted as an amendment to said bill: 

That there shall be appropriated from the sale of public lands, not otherwise appro¬ 
priated, the sum of five thoui^and dollars for the fiscal year beginning July first, 
nineteen hundred and nine; the sum of ten thousand dollars for the fiscal year begin¬ 
ning July fir.-t, nineteen hundred and ten; the sum of fifteen thousand dollars for 
the fiscal year beijinning July first, nineteen hundred and eleven; thesum of twenty 
thousand dollars for the fiscal year beginning July first, iiimTeen hundred and twelve; 
the sum of twenty-five thousand dollar.-^ for the fiscal year beginning July first, nine¬ 
teen hundred and thirteen; and twenty-five thousand dollars for each succeeding 
year thereafter, to each Sta’e and Territory in the L'nited States, for the establish¬ 
ment and maintenan e, under the control of the Secretary of the Interior of the 
United States, of a school or department of instruction in mines and mining. 

Sec. 2. That if there be already established in any State or Territory a school of 
mines and mining under the control of said State or Territory, or a department of 
instruction in mining connected with any institution of learning controlled by said 
State or Territory, then the moneys appropriated in section one of this act shall go 
to said school or department of in.^truction already established. 

That if there are two schools or departments of mines and mining in any State or 
Territory under the control of said State or Territory, then the money so appropri¬ 
ated shall be equally divided between such schools or depattments. 

■ That if there be no school or department of instruction in mines and mining already 
established in any vState or Territory, the school or department of instruction in 
mines and minimr herein provided for shall be established in connection with an 
agricultural college, if there be such, controlled by said State or Territory. In States 
and Territories having no school or department of instruction in mines and mining 
already established, or agricultural college, then the Secretary of the Interior shall 
designate some other institution of learning controlled by said State or Territory, in 












SCHOOLS OR DEPARTMENTS OF MINES AND MINING. 


connection with which said school or department of instruction in mines and min¬ 
ing shall be established: Provided, That if any Stale or Territory have no school or 
department of instruction in mines and mining, or agricultural college, or other 
institution of learning controlled by said State or Territory, then the Secretary of the 
Interi()r shall designate some accessible and convenient place in said State or Terri¬ 
tory wliere the school of mines and mining herein provided for shall be hjcated. 

Sec. 8. That the moneys api)ropriated in section one hereof shall be expended only 
for instruction, research, and experiment (including the employment of instructors 
and ex]>erts, the purchasing of apparatus, supplies, and books, and the equii)ping of 
laboratories) in mining, miningmachinery (with the application of electricity thereto), 
mining engineering, ore treatment, metallurgy, assaying, and chemistry and geology,” 
so far as these sciences relate to minerals and mining, with a view to teaching a 
practical and scientific knowledge of the best and safest methods of mining and 
carrying on the business of mining and of producing gold, silver, coal, and other 
minerals, oil, gas, and medicinal waters, and also the concentrating, smelting, refin¬ 
ing, and other prep-aration of the same for marketing, so far as the same may be 
necessary and appropriate to the mineral I’esourcesof the State or Territory in which 
said school or department of instruction in mines and mining shall be located, and 
especially for the study and prevention of explosions, fires, and other dangers inci¬ 
dent to the carrying on of mining and the mining industry, in order to seeure the 
most intelligent conservation, use, and development of the mining and mineral 
resources of the country, to make the lives of miners more safe, pioperty in mines 
more se(*ure, and to promote the general welfare of miners and operators of mines. 

Sec. 4. That the head of each school or department of instru(*tion in mines and 
mining established according to this act shall report in writing annually, on or before 
the first day of July, to the governor of the Slate or Territory in which said school 
or department of instruction is located, the condition, progress, and work of the 
school or department of instruction during the year past, together with such recom¬ 
mendations as he may deem best for accomplishing the purposes of this act as set 
forth in section three hereof; and that a copy of said report shall be also sent to the 
Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 5. That if at any time, in the discretion of the Secretary of the Interior, any 
school or department of instruction in mines and mining provided for in this act shall 
not be faithfully carrying out the purposes of said act as set foith in section three 
hereof, then all moneys herein appropriated for said school or department of instruc¬ 
tion shall be withdrawn from said school or department of in.-truction until the same 
shall have produced evidence satisfactory to the Secretary of the Interior that-said 
school or department of instruction is faithfully carrying out the provisions of section 
three of this a<‘t. 

Sec. (). That the sums hereby appropriated to the several States and Territories 
for the purpose herein specified shall be annually paid, on or before the thirty-first 
day of July of each year, by the Secretary of the Treasury, upon the warrant of the 
Secretary of the Interior, out of the Treasury of the bnited States, to the state or 
territorial treasurer or to such officer of each State or Territory a?- shall be designated 
by law to receive the same, who shall, upon the order of the trustees or other board 
of control of said college or univer-ity or separate school of mines, immediately pay 
over said sum to the respective treasurers of such institutions or to such other officers 
as may be duly authorized by said tru.'^tees or board of control to receive the same. 

This bill only conteiri]')lates the appropriation of the proceeds of the 
sale of public lands outside of the irrigation States. The following 
statement gives the amount available for the purposes of this bill from 
the sale of public lands outside the irrigation States for the year end¬ 
ing June 30, 1908: 


Alabama.. 
Alaska.... 
Arkansas . 
Florida... 

Iowa. 

Louisiana. 
Michigan . 
Minnesota 
Mississippi 
Missouri.. 
Wisconsin 


$23, 383. 88 

18, 372. 83 
3C0, 614. 24 

64, 250. 40 
116. 75 
70,463. 87 
43, 731.48 
424,415.32 
17,041.65 
112,19^ 18 

19, 627. 47 


Total 


1,103,165.17 


: "S 

IJ. 0^ U 



















SCHOOLS OK DEPARTMENTS OF MINES AND MINING. 


3 


0 desire to make as a part of this report the following portion of 
the Senate report ac(‘ompan 3 dng Senate bill 3764: 

[Part of Senate Report No. 583.] 

Iiiasinuch as tlie principle' underlying this hill have been under discussion in the 
4ifty-seventh and Fitty-eighth Congresse.s, your committee begs to incorporate and 
make a part of this report the Repo.t No. 6()4, Fifty-seventh Congress, first session, 
which accompanies the bill as reported to the House of Representatives, and which 
was also made a part of the report on H. R. 10869, No. 6666, Fifty-eighth Congress, 
second session. 

[House Report No. 604, Fifty-seventh Congress, first ses.sion.] 

The Committee on Mines and Miiring, to whom was referr d the bill (H. R. 8785) 
to apply a portion of the jrroceeds of the sale of the public lands to the endowment, 
support, and maintenance of schtrolsor deirartments of mining and metadni’gy in the 
several States and Territories in connei tion with the colleges for the benefit of agri- 
cultuieand the mechanit; arts, established in accordance with the provisions of an 
act 01 Congress apjtroved July 2, 1862, having considered the same, beg leave to sub¬ 
mit the tbllowing report, and recommend the passage of the bill as amendtd: 

The purpose ol this bill, as indicated by its title,, and as specifically set out in sec¬ 
tion 2, is to ])ro\ide means for “instruction, research, and experiment in mining, 
mining machinery (with the a.])plications of (lectricity thereto), mining engineering, 
mine exploitation, metallurgy, cliemistry, geology, forestry, agricultural engineering, 
and ro.id making, irrigation and irrigation engineering, anel the branches of learning 
pertaining to such subjects.” 

To accomplish this purpose the bill carries an appropriation providing for the pay¬ 
ment to eacli State and Territory in which colleges for the benefit of agriculture and 
the meidianic arts are now established, or may be hereafter established, in accord¬ 
ance with the provision of an act of Congress approved July 2, 1862, of the sum of 
$10,000 for the current year, ami for an annual increase of the amount of said appro- 
pration for ten years by an additional sum of $1,000 over the preceding year, the 
annual amount to be paid thereafter to each State and Territory being $20,000. 

As originally drawn the bill contemplated the payment of this appropriation only 
to colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanii* arts, with the proviso that 
in States where a separate school of mines has heretofore been established by specific 
act of the legislature any part or all of the appropriation might be paid to such sepa¬ 
rate school of mines if the legislature of said State should so dirct. In the course 
of its investigation of this subject, however, your committee found that in many of 
the States, responding to a local demand, the state universities, in nearly every 
instance endowed originally by a federal land grant, and in every instance wholly 
supported by the State, had already eHablished and were maintaining de])artments 
of mines and mining of the kind contemplated in the pending bill, though with 
inadequate equipment and support. 

Keejung in mind ihe purpose of the bill, which is to develop the resources and 
promote the industries of the country, and not to build up any particular class of 
schools, your committee deemed it the wiser policy to strengthen the s(Jiool8 already 
established rather than to attempt to build up entirely new schools. With that end 
in view, your committee have recommended the amendment to section 8 which pro¬ 
vides that in States where a mining department is already in o[)eration at the state 
university or where a school of mines is maintained by the State as a separate and 
distinct institution one half of the appropriation carried by this bill shall be paid to 
such mining department or school of mines and the other half to the college for the 
benefit of agriculture and inechanic arts. Your committee were the more disposed 
to favor this division for the reason that the subjects of instruction and research 
enumerated in se tion 2 of the bill naturally grouped themselves in such a way that 
the branches relative to forestry, road making, agricultural engineering, and inigation 
readily connect tiaunselves with the work in progress in the land-grant colleges of 
1862, while the subjects of mining, mining machinery, mining engineering, mine 
exploi ation, metallurgy, (diemistry, and geology are those which naturally find a 
place in the curriculum of anyschod of mines or state university. The other amend¬ 
ments recommended by the committee are of minor imi)ortance and are directed 
chiefly to the verbal j)erfection of the bill. 

Your committee believe it is unnecessary to [iresent any extended argument in 
favor of the adojition of this measure. The principle upon whicdi the bill proceeds 
is one which has been long established in our legislation, the Congress having in 
1862 committed itself to the j^olicy of extending federal aid in the way of grants of 
the public land to the several States for educational purposes. The act of 1862 has 


4 


SCHOOLS OR DEPARTMENTS OF MINES AND MINING. 


been followed and supplemented by the acts of March 2, 1887, and of Anprust 30, 
1890, each of whi(;h acts carried specific apf)ropriations, of money derived from the 
sale of public lands, for the purpose of strengtliening and extending the institutions 
established under the act of 18(52. The purpose of the pending bill is directly in line 
with the policy heretofore pursued, and may j>roi)erly be regarde<l as no more than 
supplementary to the act of 1862. That act made no direct reference to the great 
mining industries of the country and carried no provision for research or experiment 
looking to their development. The j)ending measure is intended to provide for this 
deficiency, and very wisely does it by strengthening the institutions already estab¬ 
lished and already partially equipped for the work. 

The splendid success which has in every case attended the establishment of the 
agricultural and mechanical colleges, and the invaluable work they have done in 
developing and increasing the agricultural wealth of the nation, have abundantly 
justified the wisdom of the act which founded them. Your committee believe that 
the pa'^sage of this bill will do for the mining interests of the country what has been 
so well done under the original act for our agricultural interests. It is a matter of 
con)mon knowledge that, notwithstanding the great value of our mineral product, 
amounting in the year 1900 to the stupendous aggregate of $1,070,108,888, there is 
yet an enormous waste in the present process of extracting both precious and com¬ 
mon minerals. There can Ire no doubt but what scientific re.search, investigation, 
and experiment will eventually develoj) methods and jrrocesses by which a large 
part of this waste can be avoided and the aggregate wealth of the nation thereby 
vastly increased. 

It is a well-recognized fact that the science and art of agriculture in the United 
States have been revolutionized through the agency of the agricultural experiment 
stations established under the act of Congress of 1887. Your committee believe that 
the same methods which have produced such fruitful results in the field of that great 
industry will be equally productive when applied to the development of our untold 
mineral wealth, and it seems incontestable that it is as much the right and the duty 
of the Federal (Government to extend aid in the latter case as in the former. The 
amount appropriated by the bill to 48 States and Territories is for the first year 
$480,000, and will amount at the end of ten years to $960,000 per annum. Jf this 
expenditure should result in increasing by only one-tenth of 1 p^r cent our annual 
mineral i)roduct, the country would be more than repaid in the direct increase of 
wealth, of tax-paying power, and above all in the widely diffused increase of intelli¬ 
gence and skill; for every dollar of mineral wealth wrested from the soil is new 
wealth, which goes into general use, permanently increasing the volume of metallic 
circu ationand contributingready material for the arts, sciences, and the conveniences. 
of civilized life. 

Some doubt having been suggested as to whether the proceeds from the sale of 
public lands w^ould be sufficient to meet the appropriation carried by this bill, in 
addition to other a]>propriations already charged against the public-land fund, your 
committee addressed inquiries to the Secretary oftlie Treasury and the Commissfoner 
of the General Land Office, which elicited the following information: 

There has been received since the foundation of the (Government from the sale of 
public lands the sum of $300,320,075.04. This amount has been covered into the 
General Treasury, and no charge has been made against it. The total receipts from 
the disposal of public lands for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1901, amounted to 
$4,307,437.15, showing an increase over the previous year of $592,402. Deducting 
from the receipts of the fiscal year the amount expended and contracted for in the 
maintenance of the entire land and forest administration, there remained a net sur¬ 
plus in the Treasury from this source of $3,158,441 67. 

Of this amount about $1,200,000 was appropriated in accordance with the provision 
of the act of August 30, 1890, for the maintenance and siqtport of the colleges for the 
enefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts established under the provisions of the 
ct of 1862, and about $720,000 for the maintenance of agricultural experiment sta- 
ions established in accordance with the art of 1887, leaving an unappropriated sur¬ 
plus of $1,238,441.67. Out of this surplus the present bill would absorb for the first 
year only the comparatively small sum of $480,000, and even when it reaches its 
maximum the amount withdrawn would be but $960,000. still leaving a wide margin 
and clearly showing that the bill may be passed without fear of creating embarrass¬ 
ment in any direction. 

To fully comprehend the im})ort of the provisions of the bill is, in a large measure, 
to foresee most of the improvement and progress that will be made in the mining 
and extraction of the precious, rare, and base metals in the years to come. The 
effects of education are cumulative, and the value of money expended thereon can 
not be estimated by the mere cost of educating so many men at so much per capita. 
Having once received the groundwork which our schools of mines and agricultural 


SCHOOLS OR DEPARTMENTS OF MINES AND MINING. 


5 


collepces p:ive, and having acquired the spirit of investigation and experiment which 
should really be in the air of all educational institutions, the man is prepared not 
only to apjdy that which he has learned, but to go still further and take the initia¬ 
tive in solving problems which have never even been considered within the walls of 
his school. 

The problems which are being presented to the members of the mining and metal¬ 
lurgical profession are increasing in complexity year by year. It is becoming neces¬ 
sary to conduct mining operations at greater depths, and this involves new problems 
in hoisting, pumping, drainage, and ventilation. The necessity for making closer 
savings in all metallurgical processes is resulting in the invention of new methods 
and the improvement of old ones. In many branches methods are now in use which 
have not underg(^ne any clninge or improvement for periods varying from a decade 
to a century, and we can scarcely look to any other source than technical education 
for leaders to attack these problems. The day of accidental discovery is largely gone 
by, and the greatest advances of the future must be made by apj)roaching the {)roblems 
from a scientific point of view and conducting experiments in a more systematic 
manner than is customary with the hit-or-miss operators whose experiments are 
conducted without rhyme or reason. 

It is easily conceivable, therefore, that if the provisions of this bill should be car¬ 
ried out the money expended would be amply repaid if fiom the combined annual 
number of graduates of our mining schools there should be found one whose excep¬ 
tional ability iu any branch of mining or metallurgy would bring about a marked 
improvement therein. It is wholly within the bounds of possibility that a single 
invention in metallurgy should result in the annual recovery of })recious metals 
many times greater than the amount to be annually expended on schools of mines, 
according to the provisions of the bill under consideration. Engineering schooLs are 
content for the most part to instruct their pupils in the current practice of the pro¬ 
fession. Their field of usefulness, however, could be largely extended by directing 
their efforts toward professional advance. Investigation and research in such a 
school should be coordinate with the department of instruction. 

In aiding the material progress of the world, there are just as great possibilities in 
wisely directed re.^^earch as there are in well-imparted instruction. Research means 
a larger product, a better product, and lower costs. It makes the labor of man more 
effective, and in the end must redound to the advantage of both producer and con¬ 
sumer. There can be no surj)lus pi research. The value of every ore deposit and 
every acre of agricultural laud is enhanced by improved methods that increase the 
amount or reduce the cost of ])roduction. Every dollar wisely spent in the investi¬ 
gation and solution of agricultural problems adds to the value of millions of acres of 
agricultural land. Every dollar wisely spent in mining and metallurgical research 
adds to the value of countless niininy; claims. 

The work of the mining schools already established has proved to be of great 
value. The mining industry has reached a stage where the discoveries of the pros¬ 
pector can be made of permanent value only by the application of the expert knowl¬ 
edge of men trained in the profession. Great advances have Iteen made within the 
last few years both in mine operation and ore-treatment methods, and the mining 
schools must be given a considerable share of the credit for this progress. Millions 
of dollars annually are added to the wealth and resources of the nation by means of 
the development of its mineral resources, and the industry is fully entitled to all of 
the aid which can reasonably be given. The bill once a law will benefit all sections 
of the country. It will add greatly to the production of wealth and settlement of a 
part of the country that has immense natural resources. 

In 1891 Colorado produced $4,000,000 in gold and $21,100,000 in silver. In 1898, 
when modern methods for handling gold ores were fairly under way, the produc¬ 
tion of gold reached $2o,''>12.019 and of silver $13,670,889. 

In 1995 the gold output was $29,805,995 and the silver $7,086,478^^ addhiof l^ead, cop¬ 
per, and tuiiLfsten, the total })roduction in Colorado for 1905 was $55,907,547. 

It is estimated that a large })roportion of this product is the result of improved 
scientific treatment of ores. 

The following letter from the Director of the Imited States Geological Survey to 
the President of the United States represents fairly the views of a highly trained 
expert in this matter; 

Department of the Interior, 

I'NiTET) States Geological Survey, 

Waslrim/ton, 1). C., January S3, 1906. 

Sir: I have the honor to submit the following comments on Senate bill No. 3253: 

There can be no cpiestion that the mining industry would be greatly benefited and 
extended by the more thorough training of men who are engaged in mineral produc¬ 
tion. At the ))resent time a considerable number of mining engineers are graduates 


6 


SCHOOLS OR DEPARTMENTS OF MINES AND MINING. 


from our lari^er ediK^atioual institutions, but the^reat mass of the mineral jnoducers 
have not been thoroughly trained. A dissemination of geolojxieal, elHunical, and 
metallurgical information in mining I’egions and instruction in the bt'st methods of 
mining would tend to leduce ex]>ensive mistakes and the use of wa>teful methods in 
prospecting, mining, and treatment of ores. 

The bill referred to seems well adapted to enc.ourage education and the dissemina¬ 
tion of information in respect to mining. It also provides for the investigation of 
new methods in mining, ore dressing, and metallurgy, which is not elsewhere f)ro- 
vided by the Government and which can be carried on wdth gi’eat advaiitage by 
mining schools located in mining districts. 

Yours, with I’espect, Chas. D. Walcott, 

Director. 

The President, The Il7/y7^ Home. 

The extensive work already undertaken by the Government in forestry and irriga¬ 
tion makes it imperative that some provision be made for instruction in these subjects, 
in order to supply the present urgent demand for experts in these lines of work. The 
agricultural colleges in which these subjects would naturally be taught will, under 
the provisionsof the bill, besupjrhed with sufficient funds to carry on the work suc¬ 
cessfully. Since both mining and agriculture lie at the foundation of national pros¬ 
perity, it seems both wise and proper for the Government to continue its aid to the 
agricultural colleges and at the same time to initiate a jrolicy of financial assistance to 
the mining schools. The history both of industrv and of education fr’om the first 
land-grant act shows conclusively that governmental aid to edu<*ation is one of the 
wisest and best methods of public expenditure. 

The bill has the indoi’sement of the American Association of State Mining Schools^ 
of the American Mining Gongress, of the Agricultural College Association, and of the 
Association of State Universities. 


AYe desire also to incorporate a part of the report on H. R. ^0591, 
beino’ a bill of similar nature and intended to meet the same needs: 

The effect of governmental action in behalf of the.se agricultural colleges has been 
most beneficent. Science has been applied to the soil so that farming has become 
more scientific and nununerative. By studying the properties aud conditions of 
soils, and scientifically supplying such properties as they have lacked, they have been 
made to produce manifold more than they could have produced without such treat¬ 
ment. The suitabiliry of certain soils for certain kinds of crops has been inv( stigated, 
and, as a result, agricultural waste has been reduced to a minimum. Tlie great 
benefits resulting from these agricultural colleges are apparent to every observant 
person. 

What these various laws have done for agriculture, this bill proposes to do for 
mining. It is of the utmost importance that the mineral resources of the nation be 
conserved both for the weh'are of ourselves and of our posterity. The minerals of 
the nation are not inexhaustible and future generations will justly hold us to account 
if we fail to conserve them to the best of our aliility. This bill seeks scientific ways 
of mining to the end that this industry may be carried on with the least possible 
amount of waste. It seeks to discover methods for utilizing all the output of a mine 
that none of it may be lost. It is quite probable that mines which now can not be 
operated at all, or, if so, can not be jArofitably operated, within a few years could be 
made to pay if the invention of new mining apparatus or the improvement of min¬ 
ing methods could be brought about through scientific study and research. In days 
past, when mining methods were more crude and less scientific, enough valuable ore 
was forever lost in the mud and ooze of river beds to defray the cost of the ajipro- 
priations contemplated in this bill many times over. Ores that could not be worked 
by the crude machinery of these unscientific times could have been made to bear 
millions of dollars if more enlightened methods and more scientific machinery had 
been in existence. This hill, if enacted into law, would result in utilizing every bit 
of our mineral products and the wa^-te would be reduced to an absolute minimum. 

It is not known what new minerals may be hiding in the pockets of the earth that 
more scientific methods would bring to light. Take radium, for instance, the wonderful 
mineral of the twentieth (tentury. Little is known of it, and yet it seems to have great 
properties of light and heat. Under existing conditions no radium has been found 
in this country. Every atom of it comes from the zinc blends of Bohemia. It is not 
improbable that even this precious material may be found in America or might be 
artificially produced from other minerals if our knowledge of mining processes were 
only more scientific. What strange minerals not yet known to man might be found 
through the application of science to mining no one ca» see. 


SCHOOLS OR DEPAR'rMEiSITS OF MlJlES AND MINING. 


7 


The proojrej^s of the race toward higher planes of civilization is brought about by 
studying tiie records of victory and failure that have been made by different investi¬ 
gators, by avoiding those failures and taking advantage of those successes. One of 
the greatest secrets of success of Mr. Ldison, the greatest of American inventors and 
one of the greatest of inventors of all history, has been in preserving a careful record 
not only of all that he has done, but of all that others have done. This record enables 
him to avoid making the costly mistakes that others have made and conserves his 
time and energy for effort along lines where success may be found. 

\ ast sums of money have been spent in the investigation of mining conditions, 
but others have not had the record of these investigations and hence have gone over 
the same road, to meet the same failure at the end. The establishment of scthools 
or departments for instruction in scientific mining is surely of sufficient importance 
to be a national matter. If the nation should take this up, a record of achievements 
and failures could be kept, so that the whole country would have the benefit of 
the in\e.-tigation pursued by any one school or department or in any particular field 
of mines and mining. 8o long as men work independenfly the country may lose the 
value of their services and the work which they are doing may be duplicated, but 
the national establishment of schools and departments of mines and mining, as con¬ 
templated in this l)ill, would give the whole country the benefit of all the research 
made in all the different schools or departments. As a result, the progress in min¬ 
ing would necessarily be faster, the waste w'ould be less, and much woidd be done 
toward the conservation of our mineral resources. 

But this is not all. The loss of life among miners in xAmerica within recent y ars 
has been appalling, and is staitlingly on the increase. It has been })resumed gener¬ 
ally that rail reading is the most hazardous of occupations, but statistics show that 
more miners per thousand engaged lose their lives in mines than rail oad men. The 
following brief tabulated statement will show the significant increase in the death 
rate of miners :n the United States during recent years: 


Number killed in mines or <|narries in— 

1902 . .. 

1903 . 

1904 . 

1905 . 

1906 . 


199 
305 
329 
491 
1,523 


Total. 2, 847 

It will be observed that this table does not give the figures for 1907, these being 
not yet accessible, but it is a matter of common knowledge that in a single month 
toward the end of 1907 practically 1,000 miners lost their lives in three or four great 
mining disasters in various coal mines of the country. 

One of the most helpful results of the national estal)lishment of schools or depart¬ 
ments of mines and mining as })roposed in this bill would be to teach safer methods 
of mining, so that the lives of miners mioht be more safe and property in mines 
more free from destruction. If the (Government could do anything to safeguard the 
lives of miners who take their lives in their hands and go down into the depths of the 
earth to bring forth the minerals that are essential to civilization, surely it ought to 
be done. It is believed that, should such schools or departments be established, the 
next few years would show a welcome decrease in the death rate among miners. 
"What is true in the way of making life safer in mines would also be true of protecting 
property in them, as the causes of explosions and other disasters incident to mining 
would be scientifiially investigated and reduced to a minimum. 

Since the above report of mine dis.tsters was written the country 
has several times Iteen shocked by the enormous loss of life produced 
in such mine explosions as those occurring at the Mariana mine, in 
Pennsylvania, and the more recent explosions in West Virginia and 
Illinois. 

Your committee believes that it is of gi-eat importance to treat 
scientific agriculture so that farming may be brought to the highest 
tvpe of perfection, that our battle ships should be the best in the 
world, that our armv should be well (Hpiipped and well drilled, yet 
we believe also that the modest expenditure of the Government in the 
establishment of these schools of mines and mining, where the correct 









8 


SCHOOLS OR DEPARTMENTS OF MINES AND MINING. 

principles of mining will be taught, is equally of importance.^ We 
believe that the means of education which these schools will afford 
will, in time, reduce the loss of life and property to the minimum. 

d'he development and conservation of the mineral resources of our 
country will, if this bill becomes law, be greatly enhanced, and we 
think that there is no doubt but that in time it will pay more than a hun¬ 
dredfold for the money invested. Jn the matter of coal mining alone 
there is an opportunity and need for the mining schools in the several 
coal-producing States to develop methods of mining to suit local con¬ 
ditions, by which a much larger per cent of the coal can be recovered. 
In man^^ cases b}^ present methods not more than 50 per cent of the 
coal is recovered. The remainder is left in the ground and usually is 
forever lost to mankind. The same enormous, unpardonable, and 
sinful waste exists with natural gas and oil. 

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